No. 243 - Front Shock Fitment

[OLIEA79]

Hi Guys,

Recently purchased number 243. Starting to go through and remove some of the more dubious additions (flocked dash included) to bring the car back to standard.

Have just been looking at the front strut brace which I intend to remove and noticed that the front shocks don’t appear to be attached to the body!! Which might explain why there is a knocking noise and the front right frequently leaves the ground after a compression.

Have added a picture so you can see what I mean. Does anyone know where I can find a parts diagram to see the correct fitment? Also if anyone has pictures of their own that might also be useful.

Thanks
Olie

 

[glenn]

Front shocks have a bolt under the black rubber top mount which has nothing to do with that strut brace

 

[glenn]

Unfortunately looks like they have drilled the car to fit the brace too

 

[hoolio]

Have just been looking at the front strut brace which I intend to remove and noticed that the front shocks don’t appear to be attached to the body!! Which might explain why there is a knocking noise and the front right frequently leaves the ground after a compression.

I think removing that brace is probably a sound idea, it doesn't look that effective. The front damper is not actually physically attached to the strut housing in OE form, it just sits inside the turret and is secured by the top part of the top mount seen in your picture.
What do you mean the front right leaves the ground after compression? This would suggest the damper/spring is fubared.

 

[hoolio]

Also, looking closely at that photo it looks as though at some point someone has removed the original rubber top mounts and fitted a solid version which more often than not mean the turret is drilled to fit. So as well as holes for the strut brace there will be further holes under that rubber mount in the top of the turret.

 

[SharkyUK]

I agree with the above - definitely remove the strut as that one is nothing more than eye-candy / additional weight. My ex bought one for me once, which was later replaced with the Pure Motorsport item and top mounts. Much better.

 

[frayz]

Seeing as the holes are already present for the PMS style mounts, I’d fit those and their matching brace. That will not only cover the holes in the top of the turret but offer a nice improvement in steering response over oem.

 

[OLIEA79]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to take it apart this weekend.
Definitely something wrong with the handling of this car so will be doing a full refurb of all suspension components, shocks and springs. Will be leaving the strut brace off. Would rather keep it OEM. Plus its not going on track so won't see the benefit from a strut brace.

Will post some pictures as I go through the process. Suspect it will take a while.

 

[Cue]

Its had solid top mounts fitted in the past, looking at that pic.

I'd personally remove the lot, test the dampers, bump stops etc before refitting.

The knocking you mentioned - is it under normal driving or on full lock? There's a none issue on full lock, we've a thread on here about it somewhere...

 

[OLIEA79]

knocking is under full lock

 

[glenn]

As Cue said there was a known knock and think that's what the new top mount spacer nut is for

 

[OLIEA79]

Took the front suspension off this weekend and discovered that someone had fitted the top mounts upside down!

Car clearly has the wrong springs on it and I think a refurb is in order. So will be booking them in with BG motorsport.

Going to create a separate thread to detail the refurb, will be pretty extensive. First thing first though, it needs a new cambelt, water pump belt and dephaser pulley. Booked in for next Monday